New Delhi: Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to leave for Johannesburg on Tuesday, August 22 morning, India has asserted that it has an “open mind” on the issue of expansion of the BRICS bloc of emerging economies amidst reports of differences among the five member states.
Modi will depart for South Africa on Tuesday morning to take part in the BRICS summit and hold bilateral meetings from August 22 to 24. Thereafter, he will travel to Greece for a day-long visit to hold talks with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The main agenda for the BRICS summit is the expansion of the grouping, with 23 countries having submitted their applications.
China has been pushing for the expansion of the group, while India has remained a bit hesitant about the intentions of such a move. Publicly, India has said from the beginning that it will review the proposals positively.
This was reiterated again on Monday at the briefing by the Ministry of External Affairs on the visit of the Indian PM. “We have a positive intent and an open mind when it comes to BRICS expansion,” foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra told reporters.
He admitted that there was “considerable among many countries to become part of BRICS, to associate with BRICS, to leverage the opportunities with BRICS”.
Kwatra noted that the modalities for the inclusion of new members into the BRICS are being discussed among the Sherpas of the grouping. “I would not want to prejudge the outcome of the discussions,” he said.
Earlier, the UK newspaper Financial Times quoted an unnamed Chinese official as saying that an expanded G7 could balance out the group of developed nations. “If we expand Brics to account for a similar portion of world GDP as the G7, then our collective voice in the world will grow stronger,” the Chinese official told FT.
In an article in the state-run People’s Daily, the Chinese ambassador to South Africa Chen Xiadong batted for the expansion of BRICS.
“Last year, President Xi Jinping pointed out at the 14th BRICS Leaders’ Meeting that the BRICS countries are not closed clubs or exclusive ‘cliques’, but a big family of mutual support and good partners for win-win cooperation. During the meeting, the leaders of the five countries reached an important consensus on the expansion of BRICS and supported the discussion of standards and procedures for expansion. China welcomes and looks forward to like-minded partners joining the BRICS family at an early date,” he wrote.
Chinese President Xi Jinping would be travelling to South Africa, along with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who had recently expressed his support to bringing Argentina, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates into the fold.
When queried about the possibility of BRICS adopting a common currency, the foreign secretary explained that there exist several essential conditions that must be met before implementing such a unified currency system.
Meanwhile, the senior Indian diplomat was circumspect on the possibility of the Indian PM meeting with President Xi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.
“All I would say that the host country has invited a large number of guest countries. The PM’s schedule in terms of a bilateral meeting with those present in South Africa is still being worked out,” he said.
There have been several indications that India has been keen to have a meeting between Modi and Xi in Johannesburg. A short encounter was assured when Xi comes to Delhi for the G-20 summit as part of protocol, but a more substantial meeting seems to be in the offing at South Africa.
After spending three days in South Africa, Modi will go to Athens on Athens on August 25. The visit holds notable importance, marking the initial prime ministerial visit from India since Indira Gandhi’s journey to Greece in September 1983.